Bjarne Stroustrup

2005 William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement

Renowned Texas A&M University computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup, inventor of C++ programming language, was born in Aarhus, Denmark, in 1950. He received a degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Aarhus and a Ph.D. in computer science from Cambridge University, England. He initially developed C++ in the early 1980s while at AT&T Bell Labs' Computer Science Research Center in Murray Hill, New Jersey. The programming language became a driving force for many technological and computing advances. As a living language, C++ has continued to evolve to meet the changing needs of the software development community. As a researcher and as a member of the ISO C++ Standard committee, Stroustrup guides that evolution and contributes new designs. Much of today's computing, communications and commercial infrastructure relies on C++, including Google, Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat and Photoshop, to name only a few. More than 3 million programmers currently use C++ to write software for everything from PCs to supercomputers and signal processors to auto-focus cameras. In addition to five books, Stroustrup has published more than 100 papers and articles for academic journals and the popular press. His book The C++ Programming Language has been translated into at least 18 languages. The Design and Evolution of C++ broke new ground in the description of the way the programming language was shaped by ideas, ideals, problems and practical constraints. Stroustrup is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. His many other honors include the IEEE Computer Entrepreneur Award and being named an AT&T Bell Laboratories Fellow. The Association for Computing Machinery gave him its Grace Murray Hopper Award. He is the College of Engineering Chair Professor of Computer Science at Texas A&M.